This day in history - The Battle of Britain

In September 1939 the troops of Nazi Germany invaded Poland. In April 1940 they invaded Denmark and Norway. In May of that year they invaded Belgium, Holland and France. Hitler's next target was Britain. But the English Channel stood in his way and Britain had a very powerful navy. But Hitler also had an advantage: his air force, known as the Luftwaffe. His plan was to bomb the British navy and the small British air force until his troops could cross the English Channel in safety. The Luftwaffe began by attacking convoys and radar stations. They then shifted their attacks to the airfields. But Hitler made two initial mistakes. One, he underestimated the British air force and two, he didn't realize the capabilities of the mysterious new British technology called Radar. Radar allowed the British to see when the German planes were coming long before they arrived which gave them time to scramble their fighters and attack the German planes before they bombed. But despite the attacks of the British fighters some bombers did manage to get through and many of the airfields and fighter factories were bombed. Soon the airfields were getting bombed faster than they could be repaired so the fighters had no place to take off from and the fighter factories were getting bombed faster than they could be repaired so the British fighters weren't being replaced as fast as they were getting shot down. A few more days like that and the British air force may have been destroyed and Britain may have eventually been conquered. But then Hitler made another mistake. The British had bombed Berlin in retaliation for several German bombers accidentally bombing London and Hitler ordered the Luftwaffe to attack the British cities instead. This gave the British a chance to rebuild their factories, build more fighters and repair their airfields. The British soon began to shoot down bombers faster than the Germans could afford to lose them. Eventually the Germans had to stop their bombing attacks and ultimately Hitler had to give up his dreams of invading Britain. This series of battles in the air which lasted from July 10 to October 31 of 1940 was known as the Battle of Britain and it was the first battle to be fought completely in the air. Perhaps Prime Minister Churchill's words say it best:
"Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few."

Here are some pictures of some of the planes used in the battle.

The Hienkel He 111, the main German bomber.




















The Junkers Ju 88, another German bomber.






















The Junkers Ju 87 Stukas, the infamous German dive bomber.





















The Messerschmitt Me 109, the main German fighter.






















The Focke-Wulf Fw 190, a German fighter which is lesser known but somewhat better than the Me 109.



















The Supermarine Spitfire, the British fighter known for winning the Battle of Britain.























The Hawker Hurricane, a British fighter which was more numerous but less famous then the Spitfire.

This day in history - Liberation of Caen

On June 6, 1944 thousands of Allied soldiers landed on the beaches of northern France. The Allied commanders had a line drawn on their map where they hoped the troops would be by nightfall of the first day. Inside that line was a town called Caen. In other words the commanders were hoping that Caen would be in Allied hands by midnight on June 6. It wasn't till this day July 9, over a month later, that Caen was taken by the Canadian and British soldiers. When the Allies first landed the German tanks in the area were held back but soon after they landed the German tanks and elite troops were placed between the Allies and Caen. First the Allies tried to go around and attack from the side and the back but that didn't work so eventually the Canadians and British troops attacked head on. By the time they actually took the town there was nothing left but piles of rubble because of the intense bombardment by artillery and by bombing from the air.

Here are some pictures:


The ruins of Caen after all the bombing and artillery fire.


















A machine gun post in the wreckage.

















A German tank.















An artillery gun.




















A Canadian tank.

So who would know?

On this day, July 8, in 1896 William Jennings Bryan delivered his "Cross of Gold" speech. At the time he was running to become the President of the United States. Although he lost, he was such a good speaker that he was known as the golden-tongued orator. William Bryan went on to run for President two more times, briefly served as the Secretary of State and was a lawyer in the Scopes trial. But he is known in our house for an event that happened much earlier in his life. He was in college and had been courting a young lady and had decided to ask her father if he could marry her. The following is an excerpt from the book "William Jennings Bryan" from the Sowers series, by Robert Allen.

When the big day arrived Bryan faced his future father-in-law in the parlor, armed with that which he knew best, the Proverbs.
"I have been reading," he told Mr. Baird, "where Solomon said in the book of Proverbs that 'whoso findeth a wife, findeth a good thing and obtaineth favor of the Lord.' "
Mr. Baird who had suspected he would be approached for some time and shared his daughter's sense of humor, decided to reply in kind from the Scripture. "Yes, I believe Solomon did say that," he said , trying to look solemn. "But Paul suggests that while he that marrieth doeth well, he that marrieth not doeth better."
William hadn't seen Mr. Baird very often, and wasn't sure of what to think. He trid to come up with another Proverb that would answer Paul but instead remembered a bit of Bible history he thougth he could use to advantage. "Don't you think Solomon would be the better authority on the subject of marriage," he asked Mary's father. "After all Paul was never married, but Solomon had seven hundred wives."
Mr. Baird laughed heartily. "You have me there. If he could have seven hundred wives and still recommend the married state, he must have been the best authority. You have my permission and Mrs. Baird's as well. God bless you, my son."